Canadian Farmers Cite Propane Supply Tightness for Crop Drying

(November 5, 2018) — While the 2018 corn and soybean harvest on the U.S. side has seen average demand for propane to serve crop drying operations so far, farmers in parts of Western Canada in October were reported to be facing challenges to secure sufficient fuel to get this year’s wet and snowy crop in the bin. “It’s an added stress factor producers don’t need,” Ian Boxall, a grain farmer and vice president of the Agriculture Producers Association of Saskatchewan, told iPolitics.

Boxall said producers, already beset by snowy weather and poor field conditions, were having to wait three to eight days for propane deliveries. In turn, the Canadian Propane Association (CPA) said it is well aware of the delays and is working to get propane to farmers who need it. Nathalie St-Pierre, association president and CEO, observed that demand for propane in Western Canada is two and a half times higher than in an average year owing to extreme weather she characterized as “exceptional.” CPA is working with farm groups, largely in Saskatchewan, to address delivery problems. St-Pierre emphasized there is plenty of propane supply, but the high level of requests has stretched delivery infrastructure. The Canadian propane industry is also working with provincial governments in Manitoba, Alberta, and Saskatchewan to secure exemptions from hours-of-service rules. Exemptions are issued by provinces on a company-by-company basis, iPolitics reports.

Keith Morin, director of propane for Federated Cooperative Ltd., told the news agency it has been “impossible to keep up with demand. We have moved delivery trucks around from branches and hired more drivers, but we can’t keep pace with all of the orders coming in.” Demand has been high in all three Prairie Provinces.

Noted was that propane-delivery problems developed after snowstorms and wet weather caused harvest delays in many parts of Western Canada. Hardest-hit regions included northern Saskatchewan and much of Alberta.

Meanwhile, agricultural producers were looking forward to expected drier weather as October progressed. St-Pierre said forecasts were improving and that should provide some relief, adding that the Canadian propane industry is working with farm groups to find longer-term solutions to prevent future delivery problems.

(SOURCE: The Weekly Propane Newsletter, November 5, 2018)